So my race didn't go to plan at Thunderrun this year. I was planning on doing at least 14 laps which I would use to make a 4 by 4 grid, one tile for the start, 14 laps, then one tile for the finish line.

But after just 13 hours my body had had enough and my brain had stopped working. I slept for hours then did a final lap in the morning. I don't think having a bed 10 meters from the course every 10km doesn't help my motivation!

Here's a quick video I shot before the race for instagram. It's me quickly showing my food and drink prep for the race...

Well enjoy the video. Next one will probably be shot during the Gritstone Grind.

So I threw in another ultra into my running calendar this summer by doing 7 laps of the Lyme Park Relay race organised by

I was shooting another video most of the way around but also wanted to do a fun stupid video as well. Then on lap 6 I heard someone complaining about the number of gates and stiles so decided to make this stupid Gates Vs Stiles thing!

Enjoy!

I'd really recomend this fun race as it's well organised and low preasure. I loved it last year and this was just as fun!

On the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena Bombing I created a large scale We Love Manchester art piece. I ran a 67 mile long route making a #WeLoveManchester heart across the city, 8 miles high and 8 miles wide. The attack was sickening but I found our city's response to it inspiring and hopeful. I was just trying to capture a small part of that a year on.

This is a video I made of all the people who met me on the run.

It took over 18 hours to run the 67 mile line to create the letters MCR and the heart. The route snaked through Manchester, Trafford, Salford, and Stockport stopping outside of some of the the A&E departments where the wounded were treated a year ago, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe, and Salford Royal Hospital. I also visited Old Trafford, Etihad Stadium, Manchester City Centre, The Trafford Centre, and had lunch at the Bowling Green Pub in Chorlton.

We also stopped at Manchester Arena at around 11.30pm, an hour later than expected as I was trying to mark the time a year on from the attack. But we took some time to reflect when we arrived then pushed on for the last section and finished around 1.30am.

"Activity Saved" is a more artistic look at the run. Rules: Start and end on Garmin. Running in every shot. Don't acknowledge the camera (even though I'm holding it).

On 2nd April 2018 I set off to run 50 miles from Liverpool to Manchester in the rain, snow, rain and more rain. I gave myself the challenge of making a 60 video of the full race (plus a bit for an intro and ending) and I think I did ok. Enjoy the video!

On Sunday 18th March, one of the coldest and most snowy days of the year, I ran the Millennium Way Ultra Marathon. For some reason it wasn't cancelled like almost every other race in the country so I went ahead and shot the video I'd been planning on for some time. Enjoy...

I'm planning on making videos of all my ultras this year. Not all stupid videos like this one, but hopefully all creative, interesting and fun.

Escape From Meriden Winter 2017 - Race Report (a bit long sorry)The hardest thing I've ever done. I had three goals, first to get the Gold Medal (60 miles from start point), second was to reach 130km/80miles in the 24 hours, and third was to reach the BG. I nailed the first two which means I should be able to do 13 laps at Thunderrun next year before starting a sneaky 14th in just before midday.For various reasons my route planning and route following didn't go to plan, instead of the BG being a 141 ish run it would have been a 155 ish run, too far even if everything else had gone to plan. Oh well, maybe next time.Didn't see Ian after the first couple of km, it looks like he took his own unique route. The weather was fine though it was always a bit cold. The battery on my phone died around 7pm as I had taken an untested battery pack with me, whoops, I should have know better. Meeting up with Lorraine at Congleton and running the last 15km with her was amazing! Thank you Lorraine. I may have got gold without you but I won't have managed that extra 5km up to midnight.The Aftermath, only two small blisters and numb toes but my left ankle is swollen up quite badly, will need to rest it for a while.The messages you all sent me and the comments you were leaving on facebook really helped! I've just read through them all again now. Thank you.I need to say big thanks to Dave, David, Lauren, Sarah, Lorraine, and Tim for the kit you lent me, a big thanks to Jane for the training plan and the others on the Ultra Group. Thanks to Lauren for picking me up at midnight and to Sarah for all your support.Stats:131km 81 miles in 13:53:17Average Pace - 10:56 per km (For context at Thunderrun I averaged 12:25 per km, for Gritstone Grind 10:37 per km over 56km.)Average Moving Pace - 8:38 per kmHours Awake - 40 Estimated Calories - 12,220Elevation - 498mCups of tea - 3Baby Bels - 7Kitkat Chunkies - 6Bottles of water and energy drinks - 15 or 16Business phone calls - 1